Announcement
April 20, 2005
Dear Colleagues:
I am pleased to announce that Professor Mary Crossley has accepted my offer to become the Dean of the School of Law, effective July 2005. Professor Crossley earned her bachelor's degree in history at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville and her JD from Vanderbilt University, where she was a member of the Order of the Coif and served as editor in chief of the Vanderbilt Law Review. She is currently the Florida Bar Health Law Section Professor of Law at Florida State University College of Law and a courtesy member of the faculty of the Florida State University College of Medicine.
Widely recognized for her scholarship in disability and health law, Professor Crossley has served as Professor of Law and Associate Academic Dean at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. Before teaching, she practiced health care and corporate law as an associate at the law firms of Shartsis, Friese & Ginsburg in San Francisco, California, as well as at Wiggin & Dana in New Haven, Connecticut. After graduating from law school, she served as judicial clerk for the Honorable Harry W. Wellford of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Professor Crossley is currently writing a book on medical treatment choices for children, and in addition to her recent publications “Reasonable Accommodation as Part and Parcel of the Antidiscrimination Project” (Rutgers Law Journal) and “Infected Judgment: Legal Responses to Physician Bias” (Villanova Law Review), Professor Crossley has published articles in numerous law journals, including Columbia Law Review, Iowa Law Review, and Notre Dame Law Review.
I have great confidence that Professor Crossley will provide the dynamic academic and organizational leadership and judgment needed to make our School of Law programs as strong as they can possibly become. She shares my vision of a School of Law that will continue to strengthen its research and scholarship base, positioning its faculty to influence the development of the law and to prepare students to meet the challenges of demanding legal careers and leadership responsibilities, both nationally and internationally. Professor Crossley possesses the necessary energy, talent, and integrity to build on the School's strengths and priorities.
I look forward to working with Professor Crossley as she and her faculty define the development of the field through their scholarship and as they educate students who will, as scholars, judges, policy makers, and practitioners, have a significant impact on our future. I am confident that her efforts as Dean will assist the University in reaching its aspiration of having an even more outstanding School of Law.
Sincerely,